Pop-up hood latch

Abstract

A hood latch engages a striker for latching a hood panel movable between open and closed positions relative to a body panel. The striker is mounted on one of the panels. A housing is mounted on the other panel. A pop-up lever is pivotally mounted to the housing for movement between lowered and raised positions. A pop-up spring bias the pop-up lever to the raised position. A latch lever has a hook for latching engagement with the striker. The latch lever is pivotally mounted to the pop-up lever for movement between latched and unlatched positions and has a handle for manually moving the latch lever. A latch spring acts between the pop-up lever and the latch lever to rotate the latch lever towards the latched position. A detent lever pivotally mounts to the housing for releasably engaging and retaining the pop-up lever in the lowered position and preventing rotation to the raised position. A detent spring acts between the detent lever and the housing for biasing rotation of the detent lever towards engagement with the pop-up lever. A cable is attached to the detent lever to rotate the detent lever away from engagement with the pop-up lever to release the pop-up lever from the lowered position. This release of the pop-up lever from the lowered position allows the pop-up spring to rotate the pop-up lever to the raised position. The latch lever and handle are then exposed to allow rotation of the handle.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
       1. A hood latch adapted to engage a striker for latching a hood panel movable between open and closed positions relative to a body panel, the hood latch comprising: the striker mounted on one of the panels;   a housing mounted on the other the panel;   a latch lever mounting means movably mounted to the housing for movement between lowered and raised positions;   a pop-up spring for urging the latch lever mounting means to the raised position;   a latch lever having a hook for latching engagement with the striker, the latch lever being pivotally mounted to the latch lever mounting means for movement between latched and unlatched positions, the latch lever having a handle for manually moving the latch lever;   a latch spring acting to rotate the latch lever towards the latched position;   a detent means for releasably engaging and retaining the latch lever mounting means in the lowered position and preventing movement to the raised position; and   means for moving the detent means to release the latch lever mounting means from the lowered position, thereby allowing the pop-up spring to move the latch lever mounting means to the raised position, by which the hood panel is moved upwardly in relation to the body panel, to expose the latch lever and handle for rotation by the handle to release the latch lever from the striker allowing the hood panel to move to the open position relative to the body panel.   
     
     
       2. A hood latch adapted to engage a striker for latching a hood panel movable between open and closed positions relative to a body panel, the hood latch comprising: the striker mounted on one of the panels;   a housing mounted on the other the panel;   a pop-up lever pivotally mounted to the housing for movement between lowered and raised positions;   a pop-up spring for urging the pop-up lever to the raised position;   a latch lever having a hook for latching engagement with the striker, the latch lever being pivotally mounted to the pop-up lever for movement between latched and unlatched positions, the latch lever having a handle for manually moving the latch lever;   a latch spring acting between the pop-up lever and the latch lever to rotate the latch lever towards the latched position;   a detent lever pivotally mounted to the housing for releasably engaging and retaining the pop-up lever in the lowered position and preventing rotation to the raised position; and   means for rotating the detent lever to release the pop-up lever from the lowered position, thereby allowing the pop-up spring to rotate the pop-up lever to the raised position, by which the hood panel is moved upwardly in relation to the body panel, to expose the latch lever and handle for rotation by the handle to release the latch lever from the striker allowing the hood panel to move to the open position relative to the body panel.   
     
     
       3. A hood latch adapted to engage a striker for latching a hood panel movable between open and closed positions relative to a body panel, the hood latch comprising: the striker mounted on one of the panels;   a housing mounted on the other the panel, the housing having a bight demarcating a first end and a second end;   a pop-up lever pivotally mounted to the first end of the housing for movement between lowered and raised position;   a pop-up spring mounted between the pop-up lever and the housing for urging the pop-up lever to the raised position;   a latch lever having a hook for latching engagement with the striker, the latch lever being pivotally mounted to the pop-up lever for movement between latched and unlatched positions, the latch lever having a handle for manually moving the latch lever to the unlatched position;   a latch spring acting between the pop-up lever and the latch lever to rotate the latch lever towards the latched position;   a detent lever pivotally mounted to the second end of the housing for releasably engaging and retaining the pop-up lever in the lowered position and preventing rotation to the raised position;   a detent spring attached between the detent lever and the housing for biasing the rotation of the detent lever towards engagement with the pop-up lever; and   a cable attached to the detent lever to rotate the detent lever away from engagement with the pop-up lever to release the pop-up lever from the lowered position, thereby allowing the pop-up spring to rotate the pop-up lever to the raised position, by which the hood panel is moved upwardly in relation to the body panel, to expose the latch lever and handle for rotation by the handle to release the latch lever from the striker allowing the hood panel to move to the open position relative to the body panel.